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"Nii-chan! Nii-chan!? Where are they? I can't find them. Are they already go home...?"
Todomatsu wandered around the school building. He tried to find his brothers, but he didn't see anyone. The boy slumped his body against the school hall's wall, trying not to cry. There were barely any students left in the school. It was already pretty late and raining heavily outside. Most of them already went home, perhaps when the rain was still light.
Todomatu sniffled a bit and rubbed his eyes. He felt so alone without any of his brothers near him. He could feel it, they started to distance themselves from each other ever since the third year of high school started. Todomatsu wished they could go back to the old days where the sextuplets was basically a unit. Now, everyone has changed and tried to be unique. Todomatsu felt like he was left behind.
Todomatsu looked outside through the window. The sky had gotten darker and the rain was still pouring hard. He had no choice but to go home or stuck in school all night. Todomatsu had career counseling session today after school hours, that was why he was still in school eventhough it was already so late.
"I have to go home now..."
Todomatsu took out his raincoat. It has green color with pattern of colorful pine symbols. His older brothers gave it to him after one of them accidentally broke his favorite umbrella. Though, with how hard the rain poured, he wished he also had his umbrella.
Todomatsu walked away from his school's front gate. He clutched his school bag covered under the raincoat. Todomatsu walked slowly while looking around. His body was shaking a little because it was already dark, the road was empty, and it was cold because of the rain. There was a thin fog covering the road too, making it harder to see anything.
Todomatsu was so scared. He couldn't help but let out a few tears. "Nii-chan... Nii-chan ..." Todomatsu keep walking forward while he sobbed a little. He only want to be at his home as soon as possible.
Suddenly, he collided into someone in front of him. "Ah!”
Todomatsu staggered back but he was still able to maintain his balance. He cursed his own clumsiness for not even noticing someone in front of him.
"I'm sorry! I didn't see you!” Todomatsu bowed down in apology and looked up. He froze when he saw the person in front of him.
It was a woman with a very pale skin. She was very thin, bony and has wrinkled skin. Her bloodshot eyes were very large, almost protruding out of her sockets. She has long dark unkempt hair. Her whole body drenched in rain. Her right hand gripped a big sack tightly. She was watching Todomatsu very intently.
Todomatsu staggered back. His body was shaking so hard. This woman was dangerous. He had to run!
Todomatsu saw the woman's hand tried to reach him. Without thinking twice, he immediately turned back to run away. He didn't go so far before he felt a bony hand gripped his shoulder so hard and turned him to face his captor. Todomatsu screamed in pain and tried to get away from the woman. The woman's grip became stronger and she put another hand to grip on Todomatsu's other arm to stop his struggle. Todomatsu let go of his bag and used his fists to hit every part of the woman that he could reach so she would release him. The woman pushed him forward and pinned Todomatsu against the wet surface of the road.
Todomatsu screamed for help. He used all his energy for struggling. He might be small compared to his brothers but no one should underestimate his strength. The woman seemed unbothered at all. She quickly moved her hands to grip Todomatsu's cheeks and forced him to look at her. Todomatsu was hyperventilating.
She traced Todomatsu's face with a bony finger. The boy shut his eyes tightly as he trembled in fear. The woman's skin felt really cold against him. He could feel it eventhough he was wearing his raincoat.
"....F-....Found....you...."
Todomatsu opened his eyes a bit. The woman was smiling. Her mouth stretched so wide from ear to ear, showing him her rows of yellow teeth and face muscles. It was the scariest smile that he ever seen. Todomatsu's body was shaking hard.
The woman quickly moved her hand to grip the front of his coat. Her other hand shook her big sack to open it. Then she pushed Todomatsu towards it and tried to put him inside it. Todomatsu screamed and started his struggle again. He didn't care about anything now. He kept pushing the woman and pulled her hands away until her grip loosened a bit. Todomatsu then kicked the woman away.
Somehow, he still remembered to pick up his school bag before running away as fast as possible, far away from the creepy woman. Todomatsu kept running. He didn't care where he go, he just want to escape from the woman. Suddenly, he tripped and crashed hard against the road.
Todomatsu just laid there for a while before he slowly get up. His body was still trembling and he sobbed so hard. He sat down there and just cried under the rain. His cries lasted for a while until it died down into a sniffle.
"Young man, what are you doing in the middle of the street?"
Todomatsu jumped in surprise. He immediately stood up and turned around to face the voice.
No face.
It was a tall man wearing a yukata. But the part that was supposed to be his face is flat. No eyes, no nose, no mouth.
"Wait... You're not from here... Aren't you?" The faceless man asked him as he approached Todomatsu.
Todomatsu was trembling in fear. He stepped backward and turned around to run again. But behind him, there were already a bunch of faceless men and women surrounding him. They were slowly approaching while pointing their fingers at him.
Todomatsu was panicking by now. He was surrounded by them. There was no escape. Suddenly, breathing had become harder for him. Everything was blurry. The last thing he saw was a faceless man's hand tried to reach for him before everything became dark.
.
.
.
"Mmnghh.....?"
Todomatsu slowly opened his eyes. His eyesight took some time to adjust to the blinding light.
"Where....?"
Todomatsu tried to get up. His head was hurting so bad when he tried to move. He clutched his head in pain.
"Totty!! You're awake!” A loud voice suddenly called his name. Todomatsu felt a pair of arms wrapped around and hugged him tightly.
"Jyushimatsu, turn your volume down a-.....Wha-!? Todomatsu!!” He felt someone rushed to him. Another pair of arms wrapped around him.
"Hey guys, wake up!! Todomatsu is awake!!""
"Really!?”
"Is Totty okay?”
"Todomatsu!!"
Soon, three pairs of arms also joined the big hug.
"Totty, where have you been!?”
"Are you running away somewhere?”
"We are so worried!”
"Are you hurt?”
"Don't you dare do this again!”
All of them were talking at the same time. Their voices overlapping each other. Todomatsu felt overwhelmed by all the attentions he received.
"Nii-chan.... Can't breath...!"
Todomatsu whimpered softly. One of the brothers noticed his distress. "Hey! Enough, enough! Totty can't breath, give him some space!” In unison, all five pairs of arms removed themselves from him. Todomatsu's brothers sat down surrounding him on the big futon. All six of them were wearing their pajamas.Todomatsu was able to breath easier, but he suddenly coughed harshly.
"I'll get some water!" Someone got up and rushed out of the room.
Todomatsu kept coughing. He felt a comforting hand rubbed his back. Todomatsu looked up, it was Osomatsu. Noticing that his little brother was more awake, Osomatsu smiled. "Totty, how are you feeling? Are you okay?"
Todomatsu took the time to regard himself. His head was pounding, his throat felt very dry and his body felt cold and weak. He was definitely far from fine. "I feel cold... My head hurts..." Todomatsu clutched his head again. Why his head hurt so much!?
"Yeah, no kidding. Your fever is still not going down." Osomatsu put his hand on Todomatsu's forehead and frowned. The door to their room opened again. Choromatsu came in and immediately offering a glass of water for Todomatsu. Todomatsu gulped it down quickly. The water felt soothing for his dry throat. Choromatsu took the empty glass from Todomatsu and gently pushed him to lie down on the futon. "Todomatsu, you need to rest more, okay? I can tell that you're still really weak."
Todomatsu complied. He felt so tired and weak. He wasn't even sure he can stand up by himself. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Ichimatsu approaching him. He put a wet cloth on his forehead. It felt so good against his feverish skin.
Todomatsu felt more comfortable now. He looked around their room and then his older brothers. "I'm..... at home..?"
"Yes." Karamatsu answered. He took one of Todomatsu's hand and rubbed it gently. "Do you remember what happened, Todomatsu?"
Todomatsu blinked his eyes at the question. He also wondered what happened and why he suddenly have a really bad fever. "I.... I'm not sure..? I think I was on the way to home from school and then...." Todomatsu faltered. He tried to remember more.
"And then?"
"...and then I'm here...? I think I had my career counseling session and it was also raining outside. I remember I'm wearing my raincoat." Todomatsu can't remember anything past it. "...I think that's all. I don't know why I'm suddenly waking up here..."
The older brothers were looking at each other after listening intently. "Todomatsu, are you sure about that? There's nothing more? You don't have to hide anything from us." Karamatsu asked him gently.
"Yeah ... That's all that I can remember." Todomatsu looked around his older brothers. They still looked troubled. "Um... Nii-chan? What happened actually?"
This time, Jyushimatsu answered, "Totty, you actually never come home. You suddenly went missing. Everyone is so worried."
Todomatsu's eyes widened. "W-what!?” Todomatsu looked at his brothers. He just noticed that everyone seemed really tired and worried. There were dark bags under their eyes. "I don't understand... But I'm here now?”
"Back then on Friday, everyone is already home except for you. We... We thought you're just gonna be late. Osomatsu nii-san mentioned something about career session afterall." Ichimatsu answered. His fingers raked through Todomatsu's hair in comforting manners. "Like Jyushimatsu said, you never come home. We... Umm... We realize it when it was already close to midnight..." Ichimatsu ducked his head down, as if he was ashamed of that. His hand rested lightly on Todomatsu's head.
"...It was still raining hard from evening even until midnight. We all thought that you stayed at school because of it. We didn't tell Mom and Dad about you when they came home really late. We figure out we should look for you ourselves at the school next day." Osomatsu continued where Ichimatsu left off. He looked more somber than usual, lacking his usual jovial energy.
Karamatsu kept rubbing Todomatsu's hand, but Todomatsu felt a slight trembling of his hands. "We went sneaking inside the school so early in the morning. We also checked the places where we usually hang out. We couldn't find you anywhere. Tried to ask some of our friends but no one see you. It was raining heavily too. We had no choice but to tell Mom and Dad. They are very mad at us."
Todomatsu heard a small sniffle. He looked towards Choromatsu. Todomatsu just noticed Choromatsu's bloodshot eyes. "We tried to look for you at night one more time during the heavy rain. Mom and Dad stayed inside the house just in case you come back. They're gonna call the police for help if we fail. We couldn't do much either, it's really hard to see anything. Osomatsu nii-san stopped the search because it's almost close to midnight and he didn't want us getting sick. When we get back to the house... We finally found you." Choromatsu rubbed his eyes ro get rid of any tears.
"Yeah." Jyushimatsu nodded. "We found Totty lying on the road near the house. Still wearing the raincoat and school uniform. Everything is soaked with rain water. Your body is so cold and you're very pale.... It's really scary..."
Osomatsu gently patted Todomatsu's head. "And then, here you are. Mom and Dad helped cleaning you up. You have a really high fever, baby bro. We might have to go to the doctor this morning."
Todomatsu looked at each of his brothers. He still couldn't believe what he heard. So he was missing and suddenly appeared out of the blue in front of the house? That was really hard to believe. But, there was no way his brothers would lie about something like this. His head felt dizzy again.
"I... I'm sorry... Everyone must be so worried. I really don't know what happened to me..." Todomatsu started to sob. He loves his brothers' company but he hated it if he makes them worry.
"No! No! What are you talking about? This is not your fault, Todomatsu!” Choromatsu shouted suddenly. There was a few tears on his eyes. "It's my fault! I've been thinking about it ever since you disappear. This must be karma because of what I said. I'm a horrible brother!”
"Choromatsu nii-san...? What are you talking about?" Todomatsu was very confused. Why would Choromatsu think it was his fault when he was the one that can't even go home properly?
"Hey, if you wanna go there... Then the five of us are to blame too. No one is really against what you said. Also, I'm surprised that someone like you would believe in karma, Choromatsu nii-san." Ichimatsu talked softly as he hugged his knees, displaying his dark persona that he rarely shows.
The atmosphere in the room became gloomy. It looked like the older brothers has done something that they regret deeply and they believe it has something to do with Todomatsu's disappearance. Todomatsu didn't like it when they all become collectively sad like this.
"Um... I'm not sure what you are talking about, Nii-chan. But I'm sure it's not a big deal and doesn't have anything to do with what happened to me. I'm just glad that I can be at home with everyone!" Todomatsu tried to give a bright smile to cheer up his older brothers.
Osomatu watched over Todomatsu with blank expression. Then, he grinned and rubbed his nose. "Totty is right! What's important is that this whole situation is solved and our baby brother is back! How about we're all going back to sleep? We still have enough time before Totty has to go to the doctor. I'm sure we're all tired too from running around all over the city."
Osomatsu was the first to move to lie down on the futon. Immediately, everyone followed his example. Jyushimatsu replaced the wet cloth on Todomatsu's forehead with a new one and he made sure that his younger brother is comfortable before lying down beside him.
"Okay, I'm gonna turn off the light. Good night everyone." Ichimatsu turned the light off and moved to his place beside the other side of Todomatsu.
The sextuplets huddled closer than usual. Todomatsu, who was in the middle of the big futon, could feel his older brothers' warmth. He still didn't know what was actually happened to him. The heavy rain, the darkness and the sound of his own running footsteps are the only thing that he could remember. He tried to remember more but his eyes felt so heavy and soon he fell asleep.
Without anyone noticing, dark figures stood just outside the window of the Matsuno brothers' room. Their dark smoky hands were flat against the window's glass. Multiple pair of eyes watched the sleeping brothers.
Six...
Sixth....
The Sixth child....
Come to me..........